As a billiards fitter you think you have seen it all in the 40 years I have been fitting Billiard tables
Well this week I have just scrapped one of the worse tables I have ever worked on and good riddance to it .
It looks like someone has copied a hard board bed 6ft Argos table and tried to replicate it as a full size snooker table
Have a look at these photo’s of what I describe as the worst designed full size table I have ever worked on .
looks ok to the untrained eye but cushion has no bolt holes in because it is just wood screwed from under the slate
someone has certainly taken their time in shaping and undercutting this rubber angle and made sure it is fastened to the block by nailing it on ?
No slip rebate strip , this has no slip out cushion slips for retaining the cushion cloth for future re-covering you have to unscrew the blocks off the outer wood
notice that this 5 section slate is thinner than normal slates and has no cushion bolt holes for cushion bolts in the side
and the cloth was just glued on around the outside edge
Slates are off to reveal a very shoddy thin plywood construction inner frame held together with nothing more than coach bolts that you would use on a fence post
they even nailed the panels over the coach bolts to hide this , this table was very unstable and could have come crashing down if anyone had leant on it too hard .
the pocket plates where the type you would normally see on a Argos wood bed 6ft for £99
a close up of one corner leg thin wood work side and end frame , nailed on knee panels to hide 4 coach bolts
This table was shown me by the owner who was expecting me to re-cover it , I simply refused to work on it and I informed I could get you a better table for under £500
plus the cost of dismantle and transport plus assemble with original cloth that was ok for say a years life left in it
in the long run I advised him this was his best option , the better table being a Genuine riley Aristocrat that if bought new today would be over £10.000
I showed the client a photo and he quickly agreed my route was better than him wasting a re-cover on this table that we eventually scrapped .
here is that table , you decide if I gave him the best option
the Riley Aristocrat Frame in the room set up in place of the rubbish scrapped table note the build quality of this table
thick wood used and sturdy large turned legs , and the polish was in very good unmarked condition .
the Riley set of 5 slates which have hole in the side for the cushion bolts . click on any photo to enlarge for a better view .
the bed cloth has now been re-fitted , this cloth was not in bad condition and should give our client at least a year or two before a re-cover is required .
better to save money at this point in time to afford the table and moving costs rather than re-cover it now .
the finished table , our client is highly delighted that I refused to re-cover his badly made table
he now has a good table in excellent condition that going forward will re-cover correct and perform to a high standard .
this table with all the man power to get it downstairs the mileage delivery charge and the 2nd day dismantling his old table and assembling this one came to £1250 in total
I would say this was an excellent price for a Genuine Riley Aristocrat set up with original cloth back on .
I saved my client wasting £400 on a re-cover of his old table which would have had to have wood linings fitted and maybe add another £100 for the hassle of working on it .
so take £500 of that £1250 and he extra outlay to get a quality table put in place of his old one was £750.
and he has something that is worthwhile playing on , I could have bought this table in re-rubbered the cushions and put new cloth and pockets on and sold it for over £3000 plus delivery and set up .
there are plenty of people wanting genuine Riley Aristocrat tables with or without steel cushions .
but they have to be competitively priced and in a form of affordability like this one was , the only thing I will warn anyone looking to buy a second hand table , the cost of dismantle and moving a bad table is the same as a good table so get it right in your choice of table .
ask Geoff at GCL BILLIARDS for any advise about a table you know about for sale and send him photo’s if you are thinking of buying a table …ADVICE IS ALWAYS FREE
